North Carolina Trip, June 23 - 29, 2004
  
 
Wednesday, June 23
 
John and Jeannie stopped in at Bigfoot before taking me down to Sea-Tac for the nighttime flight to Charlotte...
 
At Sea-Tac...
 
Thursday, June 24
 
Connecting at Chicago Midway...
 
Arrival at Charlotte...
 
Mr. Coffee fetched me at Charlotte airport and delivered me to Strawberry Hill, where I was greeted by nephews and monkeys...
 
Beloved Mother and my brother-n-law, Engineer Matt...
 
Mr. Coffee...
 
Sister Jan and nephew Will...
 
Saturday, June 26
 
Mother...
 
Father and Sister Jan...
 
Sunday, June 27
 
Engineer Matt stands proudly with the new Hamilton kayak. Mother helped father up so that he could see the new kayak just outside the window...
 
Tom Billotto stopped in at Strawberry Hill to give a guitar concert for Father and Mother...
 
       
 
Father absolutely loved Tom Billotto and the "Chet Atkins" finger style guitar that Tom plays so well...
 
Mr. Coffee and Sister Jan enjoy Tom's playing and humor...
 
It would be hard to find a finer person than Tom Billotto...
 
Tom with Father and Mother...
 
Strawberry Hill... Watching the Little Rascals...
 
Brother Brian and Joanne... and Brian's toy hauler...
 
Monday, June 28
 
At Strawberry Hill... Sister Jan and Will. Will reads way beyond his grade level...
 
Randy and Pete dropped in at Strawberry Hill...
 
Tuesday, June 29
 
Picking a few old tunes for Father...
 
I took Father to a doctor's appointment, then we drove by a few historic sites...
 
Sister Jan's and Engineer Matt's first house, where they lived until moving into Hamilton Manor at Mountain Island Lake...
 
Farmwood... Father built this house in 1973 and it was the Thompson home until the move to Strawberry Hill in February of 2004...
 
Somerdale Lane... this was Mother and Father's first house together...Father built this house in 1960 and it was the Thompson home until 1973...
 
Back at Strawberry Hill, Pastors Page and Cummings of First Baptist Church stopped by to visit. Francis Davis, mother of Pete, also stopped by. Mrs. Davis presented Dr. Page with a prayer "Afghan." Like father, Dr. Page was also suffering from cancer...
 
My Father's parents, long ago...
 
Pastor Cummings, Father, and Pastor Page...
 
Pete also stopped in...
 
Father, at Strawberry Hill, just before I had to leave for the airport for my flight back to Seattle. I struggled to find the right words to describe this moment. I took this picture during the last few moments I was to have with my Father. Father and I sat together and I played "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" on the guitar - a tune that we had played together many times. I think we both knew that it would be the last time. The lines of that old song became my final goodbye to Father. We shook hands and parted...
 
"Someday when we meet up yonder
We'll walk hand in hand, again
In the land that knows no parting
Blue eyes crying in the rain..."
 
Pete gave me a ride to the Charlotte airport for my long flight back to Seattle...
 
Connecting at Chicago Midway...
 
On to distant Seattle...
 

 
Sunday, July 4th
 
Though my thoughts were focused on my Father's condition back in Charlotte, I biked around the Bellevue Downtown Park and took in the Independence Day event...
 
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july_4,_2004_07.JPG (187328 bytes) july_4,_2004_08.JPG (123917 bytes) Not much in the mood for crowds, I peddled over to the Tinder Box and enjoyed some quiet time... and good conversation with Jeff the proprietor...
 
july_4,_2004_09.JPG (97564 bytes) july_4,_2004_10.JPG (167015 bytes) july_4,_2004_11.JPG (104074 bytes) july_4,_2004_12.JPG (71515 bytes) From the Tinder Box we observed a fine fireworks display being setoff at the Downtown Bellevue Park...
 
july_4,_2004_13.JPG (113097 bytes) Bigfoot was parked a couple of blocks over, at Mamasan's, and I returned there as the last of the fireworks lit the sky...